1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head-cleaning device and a head-cleaning method for cleaning a head that reads and writes data from/to a medium.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a conventional head that reads and writes data from/to a medium (e.g. a magnetic tape cartridge), and there is a conventional cleaning device for cleaning the head with a brush or the like so that dirt does not accumulate on the head, which is described, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Application, First Publication, No. 2005-122898 (Patent Document 1).
An operation of a head-cleaning device relating to the present invention represented by the Patent Document 1 will be explained using FIGS. 5A and 5B. The head-cleaning device in FIGS. 5A and 5B includes a brush filament 3 provided at the tip of a lever 1. FIG. 5A illustrates a state before cleaning operation starts. When cleaning operation starts in the state in FIG. 5A, the lever 1 is driven by a roller mechanism. That is, in FIG. 5A, a bearing 2 moves horizontally (in the right direction of FIG. 5A) and makes contact with one section 4 of the lever 1. This contact pushes the lever 1 in the downward direction of FIG. 5A. As a result of this downward push, as shown in FIG. 5B, the lever 1 and the brush filament 3 at the tip thereof move in a circular-arc trajectory (circular arc movement). As the brush filament 3 moves, it abuts to the surface of the head (not shown) and thereby cleans it. In FIGS. 5A and 5B the head is on the circular-arc trajectory of the brush filament 3, though it is not shown.
FIG. 6 is an example of the configuration of a head that is cleaned. The head in FIG. 6 has a linear groove (step) extending in a predetermined direction of the head. In the example of FIG. 6, a plurality of linear grooves are provided in the long direction of the head.
When the head of FIG. 6 is cleaned by the head-cleaning device of FIG. 5A, as shown in FIG. 7, the brush filament 3 abuts to the grooves in the head surface while moving in the circular-arc trajectory indicated by the arrow. However, when the brush filament 3 moves in a circular arc in this manner, some parts of the grooves in the head surface are likely to remain unswept. In particular, on a head where the grooves are arranged like steps, when the brush filament 3 moves such as to descend the stair-like grooves, parts of the grooves are likely to remain unswept. If this deficient sweeping continues, dirt and the like will accumulate on the head and lead to a danger of errors during reading and writing.
The present invention has been realized in view of the above problems, and aims to provide a head-cleaning device and a head-cleaning method that, by thoroughly cleaning grooves provided in the head, can prevent accumulation of dirt and the like due to deficient sweeping.